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January 29, 2008

A tipster emailed me what appear to be teasers for the Pepsi MAX Super Bowl commercial. There are four posted to an unbranded YouTube channel. Based on these I have no idea what to expect from the full length spot, but will keep you posted.

It's interesting to see what some big brands are doing to extend the life of their uber expensive Super Bowl spots. While many of last year's ads had microsite extensions, pointed to some branded experience online or lived on via YouTube, I don't recall any big time ramp ups. (Anyone think of anything?) Going beyond post-ad follows ups and creating comprehensive digital experiences certainly seems like an obvious way to amplify your campaign message and authentically engage consumers with your brand both before and after the big game (aka the big ad buy.) More of this to come, I'm sure - I'll be following Sunday's spots with a particular eye towards social media tie-ins.

BTW, I liked this one best because at my very first job, when I got really animated, I am TOLD that I would bob my head up an down - leading my awesome co-worker to mock me endlessly with his own bobble head Kaitlyn routine. Thanks Niko, no don't worry - my self esteem is fine. Seriously.

I have been informed by some of my lovely readers that my posts of late have been a little um, skewed in the favor of the Democrats (namely the Barack Obama Fan Club). So, I will give some love to... uhhhhh - how about Mitt Romney! He's dreamy as hell.

I choose him mostly because a tipster sent me this little gem the other day - apparently at a Romney rally this week in southern Florida someone was overheard yelling, "You are going to be Mittromney! You can be the next Mittromney! Go Mittromney!"

While you can hate me for finding this hilarious it's pretty impressive that whatever Romney is doing in Florida caused those with a less than stellar grasp on the English language to actually think that Mittromney was a synonym for President.

January 24, 2008

"With my 2008 vote still up for grabs, Obama seized the upper hand after I read this New York Times feature
and learned his chief speechwriter is a Red Sox fan and a 2003 graduate
from the College of the Holy Cross! Let's see, Obama sounds like Cyrus
from 'The Warriors'; he wears a nicotine patch; he plays hoops; he
loves 'The Wire'; and now, the guy writing speeches for him went to the
Cross. That's pretty tough to top."

Last night I attended a small dinner hosted by executives
from General Motors, who were in town for the opening of the DC Auto Show, and
announcements about their Project Driveway program, which is giving a handful of DC area
drivers fuel cell Chevy Equinoxes (Equinoxi?) for three months of road testing. With Mark LeNeve (VP of Sales, Service & Marketing) and
Beth Lowrey (VP of Environment and Energy) anchoring the event, most of the
thirty attendees were members of the mainstream media, however (lucky for me),
GM had wisely thrown some of the DC's “blogerati” into the mix.

One topic discussed at dinner was how GM can close the gap
between “perception and reality” regarding the quality of domestic vehicles,
and effectively increase awareness and consideration for their products. Certainly a tough question, but one I think
the Big Three has never been in a better position to answer given the current
consumer culture and social media environment.

Consumers now expect their voices to be heard by companies,
and authentic two-way communication with brands is de rigeur. Programs like GM’s Project Driveway, Ford’s “Are We There Yet”
project (an Ogilvy PR 360 Digital Influence project which gave Mom and Dad bloggers the new Ford Taurus for a summer road
trip) and MiniCooper’s Owners Lounge community are obvious nods to this
trend. However, I would love to see a
Big Three automaker develop a really comprehensive brand ambassador program, a
la Microsoft’s MVPs – with brand fans involved at every stage of a product
cycle.

The chart below (from Microsoft’s Sean O’Driscoll’s
presentation at this year’s WOMMA Summit) illustrates the myriad of ways that
Microsoft engages their MVPs to add value to their product cycle.

Imagine what an automotive company could do with this model,
given how passionate (and knowledgeable) consumers are about their vehicles.
Not only would a company benefit from consumer input at each stage outlined
above, but the longer term benefit of creating a new channel to communicate
with consumers would be invaluable – especially to a domestic automaker looking
for credibility.

Word of mouth is the oldest form of advertising, and with studies showing that 8 out of 10 consumers value world of mouth from a trusted
source over all other forms of communication - it seems like a great time for automakers, who are lucky enough to be pushing strong identity brands, to make a move in this direction.

January 19, 2008

TechCrunch held the first annual Crunchies award event on Friday night. The event was attended by over 900 people in San Francisco, and honored start ups and established companies in a range of categories from Best User Generated Content Site (Digg) to Best Time Sink Site (Kongregate).

To no one's surprise, the iPhone won the Gadget of the Year. And, probably to no one's surprise, nobody from Apple was there to accept. Well, no one officially from Apple. Luckily for all involved, Fake Steve Jobs was able to accept the award via video. This video is hilarious if you're a) really into the politics of the social media/tech world and/or b) really into (or really not into) Apple.

(If I didn't carpetbomb this blog with f-bombs on a regular basis I would warn you there is some "offensive language" in the video below...)

* The Crapper (The Real One) - I think my actual crapper is revolting against me and this series. Since I've started publishing The Crapper, I have accidentally lost multiple bathroom items to the toilet. My bathroom is really small - a get in and get out kind of place - but in 1.5 years I hadn't dropped a single thing in. Then all of sudden... toothbrush, deoderant, toothpaste. Forgive me crapper Gods!

* The Downside of Fitness - I recommitted my life to health and fitness for like the 8th time over the holidays, and have actually been sticking with it over the last month - which is awesome. I feel great, I like working out again, I'm rotating cardio, strength and flexibility training, etc. etc. The downside to all this, as all women know, is when you lose weight you lose it first in your boobs. It's like "CONGRATULATIONS! You're busting your ass 4X a week at the gym! You can run a mile faster than you could in high school! Give us your boobs!"

* The Count - Anyone else notice that Count Chocula is incredibly hard to find these days? I can't find it anywhere in the DC area (Safeway, Giant, etc.). It's been gone for years and it really PISSES me off because it's my favorite cereal and a total "I'm a grown up and will eat as much sugar cereal for breakfast as I damn well please" thing. If anyone knows what's happened to the Count, please let me know. I'm dying here.

* No Wine (Glasses) In The Mini! - So my Mini Cooper, Rupert, turns 1 in a few days. Something I noticed the day I bought it, and have taken great amusement in, is the fact that the extra cup holder afixed to my dashboard has a small image on it that intimates "No Wine Glasses". Like, who brings a fucking glass of wine into a moving vehicle (don't answer that) and attempts to put it in a cup holder? We all know if you must roll, you roll with Franzia. Can I get a witness?

January 18, 2008

When you think Facebook applications, you don't think Will Ferrell. Or at least you didn't.

Yesterday, comedian Will Ferrell, co-founder of the online video site Funny or Die uploaded a video announcing a Facebook application contest. (That's right, an online video, announcing a contest, about an application, on a social networking site - it's like a social media orgy!)

What does this promotion entail you might wonder? Will Ferrell is challenging students at schools around the country to upload Funny or Die's new Facebook application. The school with the most uploads wins.... a visit from the Funny or Die Comedy Tour and, a giant hammerhead shark. But that's not all! The shark "might be" be signed by Ferrell and "possibly"the cast of the Golden Girls. You read that right - watch it here - from Ferrell's lips to God's ears.

January 17, 2008

Yesterday The Library of Congress announced that it is partnering with the popular photosharing site, Flickr, in a crowdsourcing effort to improve the bibliographic information pertaining to more than 3,000 of its copyright-free photos. The Library is posting the photos in hopes that the Flickr community will comment on and tag the images with the names of people and places depicted, ensuring "the best possible information about those collections for the benefit of researchers and posterity."

The Library of Congress' effort is part of a pilot program with Flickr called The Commons, which both hope will serve as a "publication model" for other publically held photography collections. The two Library of Congress collections currently hosted on The Commons are "News in 1910", which features photos taken in that decade by the Bain News Service, and "1930s-40s in Color", with pictures of World War II mobilization efforts taken by the government's Farm Security Administration and the Office of War Information.

I think this really epitomizes the best of what Web 2.0 has to offer, and it's fantastic that the Library of Congress - who likely has many patrons that are not as familiar with our geeked out terminology and trends - recognizes its importance. As the Library points out, "Even if you don’t know the term [Web 2.0] itself, you’re one of millions worldwide who are actively creating, sharing or benefiting from user-generated content that characterizes Web 2.0 phenomena." For someone like me that spends more time than I should reading feeds from "the Valley", it's nice to see be reminded that millions of brains are almost alwaysbetter than one - whether you're developing software, a browser, or trying to improve a photography collection from 100 years ago.

January 14, 2008

I've been trying to find a way to blog about the efficiency and wonder that is 1-800-Mattress for the last few days - and this morning at 5:10am I finally found the perfect tie in..

I'm off to NYC for the day for work. Being all Type A and shit, I obviously called to reserve a cab for a 5:10am pick up yesterday afternoon. 5:10am came and went. I called Washington, DC's Diamond Cab, and after three attempts to break through their hold music was informed that there were "no cabs in my area," and it was "unclear" when a cab would become available. Um, seriously, what the fuck. And here our parallel begins.

While Diamond Cab is apparently totally incapable of ensuring you a cab with a days notice - you can in fact call 1-800-Mattress and order a full fucking bed set which they will not only procure for you, but deliver and set up in 24 hours. This is how I got my bed five years ago - I called and said I wanted a full sized bed of medium squishiness. The next day these brawny dudes showed up and did everything except put the freaking sheets on and arrange my throw pillows. (An experience mirrored by nearly a dozen of my friends who have also used 1-800-Mattress.) What's wrong with this picture?!

In other news, the guy sitting next to me on the train seems to be drenched in designer impostor cologne - another nuisance that befalls me most time I travel. Am I supposed to be turned on by this? You know those Axe commercials are fake, right? I'm sure he'll start snoring any minute now.